Aq, History of the Spanish Inquisition. [ Nov. 
Don Carlos de Seso, a noble of Verona, son'to the Bishop of Placenza, in 
Italy, and’one of the most noble families in the country; he was’ forty-three 
years of age, passed for a learned man, who had rendered great services to the 
emperor, and had held the office of Corregidor of Toro. He married Donna 
Isabella de Castilla, daughter of Don Francis de Castilla, who were descended 
from the king Don Pedro the Cruel. After his marriage he settled at Villamediana, 
near Logrono. He there openly preached heresy, and was the principal author of 
the progress of Lutheranism at Valladolid, Palencia, Zamora, and the boroughs 
depending on those cities. He was arrested at Logrono, and taken’ to’ the 
secret prisons of Valladolid. He answered the requisition of the fiscal on the 
28th of June 1558. His sentence was communicated to him on ‘the 7th of 
October 1559, and he was told to prepare to suffer death on the following day. 
De Seso asked for ink and paper, and wrote his confession, which was entirely 
Lutheran; he said that this doctrine, and not that taught by the’ Roman 
Church, which had been corrupted for several centuries, was the true faith of 
the gospel ; that he would die in that belief, and that he offered himself to God 
in memory of the passion of Jesus Christ. It would be difficult to express the 
vigour and energy of his writing, which filled two sheets of paper. De Seso 
was exhorted during the night, and on the morning of the 8th, but without suc- 
cess; he was gagged that he might not have the power of preaching his doc- 
trine. When he was fastened to the stake the gag was taken from his mouth, 
and he was again exhorted to confess himself; he replied with a loud voice and 
great firmness: “If I had sufficient time, I would convince you that you are 
lost, by not following my example. Hasten to light the wood which is to con- 
sume me.” ‘The executioners complied, and De Seso died impenitent. 
The spirit of the tribunal never lingered. An auto-da-fé, the name 
for one of these exhibitions of torture, was performed 24th of Septem- 
ber. It was handsomely attended. 
This auto-da-fé was celebrated before the royal court of justice, the chapter 
of the cathedral, some grandees of Spain, and a great number of titled persons 
and gentlemen : the Duchess of Bejar was present with several ladies, and an 
immense concourse of people. Twenty-one persons were relaxed, with an 
effigy of a contumacious person, and eighty persons condemned to penances, 
the gveatest number of whom were Lutherans. ; 
The inquisitors of Seville, now jealous of the celebrity of the murders 
at Valladolid, proposed a burning, to which they expected to attract 
Philip. “ When,” as Llorente says, “ they had lost all hope of the 
honour,” the fires were lighted; fourteen human beings were burnt 
alive, three in effigy, because they could not find the originals to burn ; 
and thirty-four were subjected to various agonies and sufferings ; among 
the rest was burned an Englishman. 
Nicholas Burton, born in England, was condemned as an impenitent 
Lutheran heretic. It is impossible to justify the conduct of the inquisitors to 
this Englishman, and several other foreigners who had not: settled in Spain, 
and were merely returning to their respective countries after having transacted 
their commercial affairs, This man came to Spain in a vessel laden with mer- 
chandize, which, he said, was all his own property, but of which some part 
belonged to John Fronton, who was reconciled in this auto-da-fé., Burton 
refused to abjure, and was burnt alive; the inquisitors seized his vessel and its 
freight, thus proving that avarice was the principal motive of the Inquisition. 
The inquisitors were guilty of a great cruelty in this instance, and the com- 
merce of Spain would perhaps have been destroyed, if the violence committed 
against Burton, and some others, had not been protested against by the different 
powers, which induced Philip 1V. to prohibit the inquisitors from molesting 
foreign merchants and travellers, if they did not attempt to promulgate hereti- 
